The use of electronic devices such as computers and other processor based devices continues to expand. In addition, communication and interaction between such devices is also extensive, using both wireless and wired connections to a world wide network (internet) based on the Internet Protocol (IP).
Various vendors have sought to take advantage of the variety of services offered using this extensive network of connected devices. For example, Apple Corporation has introduced products extending across a “triangle” including portable entertainment devices (iPod/iPhone™); fixed, or at least less-portable, computing device for internet access, collaboration, and content creation (iMac™, PowerBook™); and an internet source for content (iTunes™ for music and videos).
In addition to entertainment uses, such as addressed by Apple Corporation, increasing processor capabilities and memory of server devices coupled to the internet has allowed for the introduction of a variety of “virtual” world environments. Such environments include online gaming environments and the like, where remotely located game participants may participate together in a common game, the state of which game becomes a “virtual” world in which each participant is represented by an “avatar” having a state (e.g., location, armament, health etc.). A variant on such a gaming environment are virtual worlds, such as Second Life® from Linden Labs®. In Second Life®, users may create avatars that may shop, operate businesses, listen to music and the like, while interacting with avatars of other users. It has been proposed that avatars should be provided that may exist in multiple different ones of such virtual worlds. It has further been proposed that virtual mobile terminals should be available for avatars in such virtual worlds that are able to send text messages to recipients in the real world. Thus, such virtual worlds continue to become more sophisticated.